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Two-time FIA World Endurance Champion Jose Maria Lopez has been confirmed in one of Akkodis ASP’s two Lexus RC F
Triple World Touring Car Champion José María López will be leaving the Toyota GAZOO Racing WEC team after being with them since 2017. He has achieved two WEC championships and won the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours with teammates Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi in car #7. Nyck de Vries, a former test and reserve driver for Toyota GAZOO Racing, will take López’s place in the driver line-up for the 2024 season. López recently participated in a Goodyear test at Portimao and drove a Lexus RC F GT3, which Akkodis ASP will field two of in the 2024 WEC. Having achieved 15 wins, including four in the 2023 season, López will now switch to GT3 machinery and make way for the former AlphaTauri Formula 1 driver. The Lexus has been prominent in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but is yet to make its appearance in the WEC due to the upcoming switch from the GTE formula to the LMGT3. López has participated in seven Le Mans events in either an LMP1 or Hypercar, with the latter category becoming the WEC’s premier class in 2021. Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi expressed their gratitude and reflected on their time driving alongside López, acknowledging the challenges they faced together. The 2024 WEC season will start with Prologue testing in Qatar on February 24-25, followed by a 1,812 km race on March 2.
